economics of on-farm development - Institute for Social and ...

contlict 20 between the farmers as well as agricultural labourers. The most recent
crop-spoiling agitation 21 in the Kuttanad region may be considered as a pointer
to this conflict. Together, Kuttanad and Palakkad account for 58,0000
agricultural labourers, more than one quarter <strong>of</strong> the state's total (GOI, Census,
1991 ).
As mentioned earlier, the problem <strong>of</strong> paddy land conversion is going on
unchecked even in the command areas <strong>of</strong> irrigation projects. The Report <strong>of</strong> the
Task Force 22 set up for the Ninth Plan for field crops bring out the contrast that
the need for arresting the decline in the area under rice cultivation was fully
realised only by the end <strong>of</strong> the Seventh Five Year Plan and by that time a larger
proportion <strong>of</strong> the area had already gone out <strong>of</strong> the crop (GOK, 1997a: 10). The
20 The conflict between labourers and farmers was most pronounced in the South
Malabar district <strong>of</strong> Palakkad, where the land reforms had the greatest impact and where
the green revolution and the completion <strong>of</strong> large public irrigation projects in the 1960s
accelerated the commercialisation <strong>of</strong> rice farming and increased demand for casual
labour (Heller, 1999).
21 The crop spoiling agitation was initiated on 5th July 1997 in the Kuttanad region in
Alapuzha district. Farmers in the area alleged that plantsl crop worth Rs. 50 lakhs were
spoiled in the agitation, which were cultivated in the converted paddy lands. Agitators
argued that their labour opportunities were spoiled by the farmers by converting paddy
fields into labour saving crops. In September 1997, the government appointed a
committee headed by Dr. Shayamasundaran Nair, to look in to the problems <strong>of</strong> paddy
farming and suggest mea~ures to streamline the same.
22 The Task Force Report was highly concerned about the declining trends in paddy
area in spite <strong>of</strong> the commendable promotional efforts by the government. The total
amount invested by the state during the Eighth Plan including the special assistance
provided from the Prime Minister's Special Programme in lieu <strong>of</strong> the withdrawal <strong>of</strong>
fertiliser subsidies works out to nearly 150 crores. Despite considerable investment and
special attention given to the crop, the fact remains that the area under the crop
continues to decline (GOK, 1997).
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